The body of a conventional, acoustic or electric guitar can have various shapes, but it primarily consists of a sound box, a neck, a fretboard and strings. The strings are removably attached to a “bridge” mounted on the sound box and stretched over the fretboard to the end of the neck where they are attached to tuning keys, one for each string, which provide a convenient method of tuning the strings or replacing them as needed.
String instruments, such as the guitar, have a long history of modifications and improvements and more recently, have undergone changes incorporating modern digital and electronic technology utilizing MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) protocol.
The following patents are representative of the present state of the art with respect to the present invention:    1) U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,632 to Von Basse et at discloses a grid of capacitor surfaces in an operational amplifier circuit which can be used as a fingerprint sensor. It establishes only the electronics associated with capacitive fret sensors and there is no disclosure of a musical system.    2) U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,734 to Polson discloses a musical instrument structured as a guitar incorporating electronic circuitry to synthesize musical tones. Touch sensitive (capacitive) fret sensors are mounted at addresses corresponding to fret and string locations.    3) U.S. Pat. No. 6,753,466 to Lee discloses an electronic programmable system including a membrane switch chord board which senses finger depression to activate an electronic circuit. The programmable system retrieves programmed notes or chords from a software module and maintenance of the finger pressure maintains the sound of a chord.    4) U.S. Pat. No. 7,541,536 to Daniel discloses a portable multi-sound effect system for processing the electrical audio signals created by a guitar. A touch-sensitive dynamic control unit is mounted upon the front panel of the guitar's body.    5) U.S. Pat. No. 7,812,244 to Kotton et at discloses a method and system for producing synthesizer and MIDI control data for reproducing a signal from data collected by fret sensors coupled to a string instrument which sense the performer's playing and actions on the instrument.    6) U.S. Pat. No. 7,897,866 to Sullivan discloses systems and method for detecting a finger position on the playing surface of an instrument, using a sensor module located at a selected location of the playing surface. The sensor module emits light that is reflected or diffused by a finger near the selected location.    7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,703 to Iba et at discloses an electronic string instrument employing a plurality of fret sensors for instrument performance. The fret sensors include apparatus for detecting a fret operation position on a fingerboard with this information being used for various control function including musical tone generation.    8) U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,353 to Fala et at discloses an improvement in detectors using ultrasonic signals to detect fingering on the frets of a guitar or the like, to minimize interference between fret detection and note triggering functions.    9) U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,405 to Auten et at discloses a system for simulating participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3D display including stereo speakers, so that pre-recorded portion of a concert can be presented along with actual playing of the musical instrument.    10) U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,350 to Okulov discloses a guitar adapted for used with a battery power source and having a CPU and memory including preprogrammed chords and melodies. The vibration of the strings is picked up by piezoelectric elements and amplified.    11) U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,467 discloses a foot pedal operating an electronic synthesizer connected to a guitar. The player must thus coordinate the playing of the guitar with his hand and producing chords with his foot.    12) U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,393 relates to a controller for use with a music sequencer in generating musical chords. This prior-art patent illustrates and also claims the invention when applied to an accordion. The system disclosed in this patent although suitable for key operated instruments is not very applicable to string instruments, such as a guitar.    13) U.S. Pat. No. 7,541,536 claims a multi-sound effect system for an amplified guitar. This system does not apply to chord accompaniment.    14) US Patent Application 2003/0210809 A1 discloses an improvement in a sensor for detecting contact with a human finger, without discharging the capacitors via the human finger, thereby avoiding the uncomfortable sensation associated therewith. There is no disclosure of a musical system and therefore this patent is not relevant to the invention, but establishes only the electronics associated with capacitive fret sensors.    15) US Patent Application 2008/0236374 to Kramer discloses an electronic system to generate music-related data based on capacitive sensed inputs from the proximity of the fingers of a player to an array of capacitive fret sensors, which provides sense position information related to the finger depression on a guitar. Capacitance is measured between the fingers of a player and the array of capacitors.    16) PCT Patent Application WO 95/01632 to Hackler discloses an electric guitar, having pressure sensitive apparatus disposed on the neck providing a control signal in response to manual squeezing of the pressure sensitive apparatus.